The drummer Phil Collins had “never seen anything like”
For many, Phil Collins is best known for being a singer, but drumming will always remain his first love.
If Collins had never been forced to step out of his comfort zone to become the frontman of Genesis following the abrupt departure of Peter Gabriel, he’d have happily stayed behind the drum kit for the rest of his career. They auditioned others for the role, but none of them were as talented as Collins, who had to teach them how to sing during these meetings.
Collins, who would have gladly released Genesis songs as instrumentals, then became a reluctant vocalist. Then, following the breakdown of his first marriage, he made a solo album purely to deal with his emotions rather than in search of commercial success, which kick-started a solo career that has seen him sell more than 150 million records. Yet, Collins’ biggest heroes remain drummers rather than frontmen.
One of those names in his all-time heroes category is John Bonham, who Collins was already in awe of before he’d formed Led Zeppelin. At the time of first seeing Bonham perform, Collins was a teenager who had aspirations of becoming a professional drummer, and he couldn’t believe his eyes at what he’d witnessed.
The show occurred in 1968, Bonham’s group, Band of Joy, which also included Robert Plant on vocals, were asked to support the American musician Tim Rose. While in two years, Bonham and Plant’s name would be internationally-renowned, they were complete unknowns at this juncture.
The London show was a major musical awakening for Collins. Before the concert, like everybody else in the room, bar his bandmates, he had never heard of Bonham. It was a different story after the show when Collins left the building with a new favourite drummer.
He later recalled to BBC 6 Music in 2016: “I saw John Bonham play at the Marquee Club with Tim Rose, who was an American singer and he did this hit version of ‘Morning Dew’ and he was on tour and had this guy John Bonham on drums. I went to see Tim Rose, but when I saw Bonham, I had never seen anything like it.”
From that moment, Collins followed the career of Bonham closely and looked on as they rose to the top of the mountain. He continued to view him as a god among men, and, understandably, he was devastated by his death.
Bonham’s passing brought an end to Led Zepellin, but they did later reunite for Live Aid in 1985. Collins was asked to deputise for Bonham, and as he knew all the material inside out, it should have been a simple task for someone with his talent. Sadly, it turned out to be an ill-fated Led Zeppelin reunion, and Jimmy Page blamed Collins for the performance going awry.
After the set, Page told MTV that Collins “didn’t know the stuff”, which caused the show to be a disaster. He also later said that their decision to get the band back together was “not very clever”.
In Collins’ autobiography, he admitted: “I got pissed off. Maybe I didn’t know it as well as he’d like me to have done, but… I became the flagship, and it looked like I was showing off.”
Collins had flown into Philadelphia from the other side of the world after performing at the London edition of Live Aid. While he admits he was underprepared for the show with Led Zeppelin, Page’s comments left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Most disappointingly for Collins, he could not pay tribute to Bonham as he had hoped. Although Collins should have probably thought twice about performing with Led Zeppelin due to his intense schedule and lack of preparation with the band, his love for Bonham wouldn’t let him reject the offer.
That night in the Marquee Club in 1968 had a transformative effect on how Collins viewed the drums, and for that, Bonham will always be placed on his Mount Rushmore.
